Halloween has been Cancelled
Posted on Tue, Nov 01, 2011
Indulge me in this temporary break from our normal blog. We are located in Ridgefield, Connecticut--which made the national news during Hurricane Irene because we had no power and no running water for over a week. For the uninitiated, no running water means no flushing toilets, no drinking water, no showers, no laundry, no water of any kind. We're back in the news again because of the latest snowstorm, which I think should qualify for a name, too. Our story is by no means extraordinary, it is just a depiction of what things here are like right now.
The snow began on Saturday, October 29, around noon. Ridgefield has an annual Halloween Walk in town on the last Saturday morning before Halloween, so the kiddies throughout town had just managed to eke their way through that madness. By 2:00, we had no power. This was no surprise since we seem to lose power whenever there is so much as a strong gust of wind. We had filled the bathtub so we would be able to flush our toilets, we had cooked dinner early in the day so we had warm food to eat in the dark, we had our flashlights and candles easily accessible, and we were well-stocked with non-perishables to wait out the storm.
Around 3:00, we heard a thud, which sounded sort of like a big tree branch falling on our house. A look outside revealed it was just our electric box, pulled off the house by falling tree branches. Clue #1 that this was not your normal snowstorm. We started to realize that when the power came back on, we still wouldn't have power. Most of our trees still had leaves on them and the heavy snow was bending them way too far to the ground. So we made a quick run around the yard trying to knock off the snow as much as we could. It was getting dark by now, so we ate, played Apples to Apples with the kids, put them to bed, and retired for the night ourselves.
I actually slept well that night. It might have been my last good night's sleep this week.
Waking up on Sunday morning, we scoped out our situation. Those trees we tried to save yesterday by knocking snow off of them? Yeah, they're pretty much gone--major limbs snapped off all of them, probably no hope of saving them. I love my garden so this hit hard. And then we looked farther down our driveway. I counted 4 big trees down: 1 across our driveway and 3 more across the road in front of our house. First thought: please tell me none of these trees landed on anyone or anyone's house. Thankfully none did.
Next thought: start digging out and see how bad things really are. So we began digging (and let's be clear--I'm using the "holy we" which my husband quickly points out really means "he"). What you can't see as well in the pictures is that those those trees brought electrical wires down with them. Hmmmmm. . . . probably no power for ar least a week, trapped at our house, and it's cold. I kpet picturing that Toy Story scene where Buzz says "There's no need to panic" and Woody replies "WHAT?! This is the PERFECT time to panic!"
Fight or flight instincts started to kick in. Our neighbor down the street (who has a generator, God bless them!) texted us to say everyone was congregating at their house. So we headed down the hill, carefully picking our way through downed trees and wires as we go. I counted 10 adults and 8 kids there at one point. We began referring to our friend's house as the neighborhood refugee camp.
While there, the calls started coming in from town and schools. School had been cancelled Monday-Wednesday, and probably longer; all Halloween festivities had been cancelled. It took a while for that one to sink in--no trick-or-treating? Try explaining that to a houseful of kids.
Again, fight or flight. One family said they'll go to grandma's house, where there is power and someone to watch the kids. Another decided the same thing. One kid was sick, and Mom and Dad both had to work the next day. Could one of them work from home? Could someone take advantage of the generator and watch the sick child (and any other children not already accounted for)? We contemplated renting a car since ours were trapped at home. All of us discussed the wisdom of owning a generator and vowed to find one "for next time." After Irene, we thought this no-power-for-a-week thing was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Now we're not so sure. We pieced together a semblance of a plan for the next day. We trudged back up the hill for home to settle in for the night. And now we have no cell service at our house. Really? Did that have to go out, too?